Bottle-stopper.



G.E.BOLTON BOTTLE STOPPER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1 909.

Patented- IvIay 17, 1910.

rinrrnn snares Parana canton.

GEORGE E. BOLTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnonon E. BOLTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Bottle-Stoppers, and declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to makeand use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to closures for hottles, jars and other receptaclesand has for its object to provide a closure which shall be simple andeffective.

In all forms of packages wherein the closure is efiected by means of acover clamped in place, there is always a certain percentage in whichthe closure is faulty, although the fault may not be perceptible to anobserver. Where there is a defect in the closure of a package ofperishable goods so as to permit air to enter, decomposition or moldsets in upon the surface of the contents adj aeent to the cover and thepresence of discoloration or mold at this point indicates a defectiveclosure. The usual form of metallic closure for glass bottles or jarsconsists of a cap which fits over the mouth of the bottle or receptacleand hides the surface of the contents of the package at the top so thatthe presence of a leak cannot be detected, without opening the package,unless there is sufficient decomposition to discolor the contents of thepackage to a considerable depth.

A further object of my invention is to provide a metallic closure forbottles, jars and other transparent receptacles which will leave theupper surfaces of the contents open to inspection through the walls ofthe receptacles.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claim; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects, includingthese heretofore enumerated and others which will hereinafter appear,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a fragment of a bottle or jar closed in accordance with thepresent invention; Fig. 2 is a view simi- Speeification of LettersPatent.

Application filed June 1, 1909.

Patented May 17, 1910. Serial No. 499,387.

lar to Fig. 1, showing the condition of the parts just before the coveror cap is forced into its final position, portions being broken away toshow the condition of the filler which seals the joint between thereceptacle and the cover; Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. l, the upperportion of the receptacle and the closing devices being shown in crosssection, the conditions being those illustrated in Fig. l; and Fig. l isa section taken on line l l of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a receptacle of any desired form,preferably constructed of glass or other transparent material.Distributed about the receptacle adjacent to the open end or mouththereof are a series of laterally-projecting lugs B preferably integralwith the receptacle. lVithin the open end of the receptacle I prefer toform an annular counter-sunk seat C; D is a compressible fillerpreferably of cork, which rests upon the seat C and serves to form aseal between the end of the receptacle and the cover. The filler isillustrated as being in the form of an imperforate disk but it is, ofcourse, not necessary that it be a disk in order to act as a seal. Iprefer to use a disk, however, since the additional function ofprotecting the interior of the cover against corrosion is therebysecured.

E is the cover which may conveniently be made of sheet metal in the formof a disk. In accordance with my invention, I provide the cover withaseries of downwardly pro jecting hook-shaped members which, when thecover is in place, lie against the sides of the receptacle between thelugs and have portions which may be brought into engagement with theunderside of the lugs upon turning the cover slightly, so as to lock thecover on the receptacle. In other words, the cover is locked in place bymeans of a number of bayonet joints of which the lugs on the receptacleform part. The portions of the joint carried by the cover may be formedin any suitable way so as to provide the necessary hooks, a preferredarrangement consisting in the provision of a slotted flange F upon thecover so that the cover as a whole resembles a cap which fits over theopen end of the receptacle. There are as many slots in the flange asthere are lugs, each of the slots consisting of an open-ended portion Grand a laterally projecting branch G. The slots G are wide enough toreceive the lugs when the cover is placed in position and the slots Gare of such depth that when the cover is turned the lugs enter theseslots and lock the cover in place. I prefer to make the filler Dsufficiently thick to make it necessary that it be compressed in orderto bring the slots G into the plane of the lugs, thereby assuring atight seal between the edge of the receptacle and the cover before thecover can be locked in place.

Since the lugs on the bottle or jar are arranged at the mouth thereof,the upper surface of the contents may always be viewed by looking inthrough the lugs, this inspection being facilitated by placing each ofthe lugs diametrically opposite another lug. Furthermore, any desiredport-ion of the bottle or jar may be left uncovered by the flange sothat the contents may be inspected at various points. Consequently, assoon as a leak in the seal produces the slightest dis coloration uponthe surface of the contents of the receptacle, the fact of the leakbecomes at once apparent upon inspection. This characteristic of myimproved closure is of particular value in connection with packageswhich. it is desired to process. If a closure is faulty then, duringprocessing, bubbles will issue from beneath the cover. If the packer isable to discover these bubbles he will know that the package is faultyand that a new cover should be supplied. In the ordinary form of closurewherein a cap is employed, the bubbles may not issue from beneath theflange of the cap but will remain concealed just outside of the jointbetween the end of the receptacle and the cover. By employing myimproved cap, however, a considerable portion of the neck of thereceptacle immediately adjacent to the mouth is left exposed so thatifthere is a leakage thebubbles will be clearly visible. Furthermore,ifthere should be an imperfect seal by reason of improper seating of thefiller, this can readily be detected by viewing the interior of thepackage through the transparent lugs and the portions of the neck of thereceptacle adjacent to the lugs.

This is of particular advantage since it .is practically impossibletoobtain fillers or re ceptacles which are perfect .in form. If the packershould fail'to detect a faulty closure in the manner described thedanger of shipping such a faulty package may be avoided by inspectingthe packages after they have beenallowed to stand for sometime, in orderto ascertain whether or not'there hasbeen any discoloration at the topof the contents or whether a scum has formed upon the upper surface ofthe contents. This inspection may be made even though the package becompletely filled by reason of the transparent portions which are leftexposed at the top of the receptacle. In short it is possible for thepacker to make a perfect inspection of the seal both from within andwithout so that he can ship any package with the certainty that it is aperfect one.

The counter-sunk seat in the end of the receptacle has the function ofproperly positioning the filler and furthermore, where the receptacle ismolded of glass, it permits a smooth seat to be provided without makingit necessary to finish the mouth of the receptacle by grinding orotherwise, sincethe seat may be formed in the mold and any irregularityin contour which occurs in the surrounding wall will be of noconsequence.

If desired, the flange may be provided with an inwardly-projecting lug Iwhich,

when the cover is in its locked position, drops into a recess K in thewall of the receptacle and serves as a lock to hold the cover againstaccidental rotation. This lug may be formed by simply indenting theflange, forcing a portion thereof inwardly. Since the flange is of sheetmetal it, together with the lug, constitutes a spring catch.

lVhile I have illustrated and described in detail only a singlepreferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to thestructural details so illustrated and described, but intend to cover allforms falling within the terms employed in-the definitions of myinvention which constitute the appended claim.

lVhat Iclaim is:

In combination, an open ended glass receptacle, a plurality of narrowintegral lugs projecting laterally from the receptacle in the plane ofthe open end, said end being countersunk about the opening, acompressible filler lying within the countersunk portion, a coveroverlying the fillerand lying wholly above the open end of thereceptacle, said cover having a narrow depending flange, saidflangebeing cut away throughout its entire width so as to form-openings toreceive said lugs, and each of the openings in the flange having alateral branch into which one of the lugs may pass when the cover isturned so as to lock 'the cover in place, the parts being soproportioned that the filler must be compressed until the cover engageswith the surrounding portionof-the receptacle before the cover can beturned sufiiciently to bring the lugs into theaforesaid branch openings.

In testimony whereof, :1 sign 'thisspecification in the-presence o'ftwowitnesses.

GEORGE E. BOLTON. Witnesses:

VINCENT 1P. Donn, l VM. F. FREUDENREIOH.

